Space flown Apollo 11 Silver Robbins Medal soars to $33,000 at RR Auction

The rare piece has Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins's names engraved

The first day of RR Auction's much trailed January sales has been completed with some excellent examples for some of the high-end items.

Naturally many of these came from the first moonlanding mission, Apollo 11. Here is one of the top lots from that section:

A historic flight-flown Apollo 11 Robbins Medal, approximately 1.25" diameter, with a raised design on the face of the iconic Apollo 11 mission insignia as designed by Michael Collins (notably with the olive branch in the eagle's beak rather than its talons) impressed bidders.

The reverse of the sterling silver medal is engraved with the last names of astronauts Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Michael Collins, along with the July 16, 1969, launch date, July 20, 1969, moon landing date, and July 24, 1969, return date.

This medal is serial numbered "140." and described as in 'normal condition' by the auctioneer. 

Apollo 11 Robbins silver medal

Made by the Robbins Company of Attleboro, Massachusetts, astronauts who are in line for a flight have the option of purchasing the medallions for themselves, family, and friends as personal souvenirs. The medals are made available only to the astronauts.

At the conclusion of a flight, the tokens are sent back to Robbins, where they are engraved on the reverse, polished, numbered, and returned to the astronauts. The dyes are later destroyed.

Remarkably, scarce flight-flown mementos such as this - particularly one from Man's first step into a brave new world - rarely find their way to the marketplace. This makes it a strong investment.

It came accompanied by a letter of authenticity from Joseph P. Kerwin, who at the time was a member of the Astronaut Flight Office and later was science pilot onboard Skylab 2. With a minimum bid set at just $2,500 it finally sold for $32,818.

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Alongside the medals of two WWII pilots, early aircraft models and even propellers will be on offer

www.paulfrasercollectibles.com

Images: RR Auction